Value Free Agents Who Would Thrive on Miami Heat's Bench

The Miami Heat's goal this offseason is to sign a couple of players to fill out their bench. Everybody from the Heat's 2012-13 championship rotation is under contract for next season, excluding Chris Andersen (though he's likely to re-sign shortly, according to Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida), so depth is all Miami needs.

But as a team that is already way over the cap, Miami is extremely limited financially. With only a taxpayers' exception of $3.2 million and minimum contracts to spend, the Heat are going to have to target inexpensive players.

Let's take a look at some players who fit the bill of inexpensive and valuable.

DeJuan Blair

Blair's four-year career has been up-and-down. Coming out off college, there were concerns about his ability to stay healthy and his height (6'7"), so he fell to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round.

But Blair became a rebounding machine right out of the gate and missed just one game in his first two NBA seasons.

But things went downhill for Blair this past season. His production dipped, and he found himself completely out of the Spurs rotation at the end of the year.

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DeJuan Blair on the bench during the 2013 postseason.

That's actually good news for the Heat because it sent Blair's market value plummeting. Blair is still just 24 years old and, for his career, has averaged an impressive 11.1 rebounds per 36 minutes.

Miami could really use another rebounder, as the Heat finished dead last in rebounds per game in the 2012-13 season, so Blair makes a ton sense from that standpoint.

Blair has also proven to be a tough defender, despite the size he often gives up to opponents. The Heat would be wise to give him a look.

TimofeyMozgov

While Blair would help the Heat in the rebounding department, he wouldn't give the Heat much size down low. Mozgov can, though.

Mozgov's lack of offensive game would prevent him from having a big role on the Heat. But he is 7'1" and an effective rebounder and shot-blocker. Considering we're talking about low-minute players, guys who might not see the floor on a lot of nights, Mosgov would have some value for Miami.

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For his three-year career, Mozgov has averaged 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes.

Also like Blair, Mozgov, 26, is still a young player.

Mozgov averaged just 8.9 minutes per game in the 2012-13 season due to the Denver Nuggets having a logjam at center, so if there were ever a time to buy low on the center, this offseason would be it.

Samuel Dalembert

The Heat would love to add a talent like Dalembert as big-man insurance.

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The big question with the 6'11" Dalembert, and it might be why the Heat have yet to be linked to him this offseason, is he doesn't have the reputation of someone who would be happy and willing to take a small role.

If Dalembert would be upset at all about the lack of minutes he would receive on Miami, then the Heat should steer clear. The "Big Three" Heat are known for having a cohesive locker room, and risking the disruption of that for a role player would be a mistake.

But if Dalembert were to buy into what Pat Riley's selling about sacrificing money and minutes to win championships, then he's definitely worth pursuing for the Heat.

The 11-year veteran can still very much play. Last season, he averaged 14.7 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per 36 minutes with the Milwaukee Bucks. Importantly to Miami, he knocked down 52.6 percent of his jumpers 10-15 feet away from the basket, according to Hoopdata.

To get that level of all-around efficiency in such a cheap contract would be fantastic for the Heat.